"Elder Lain." The Corsair bowed with a respect befitting his station. a respect uncomfortably waved away by own Lain's hand "Please, you don't have to call me anything of the sort. You are five years my senior." Lain protested, caught somewhere between humility and professional embarrassment.
If the older man was torn over the idea of placing his self-professed respect into hot water by dismissing the elder's preferences, it did not show on his face. "Perhaps in age, but not in wisdom, Sir. Your vision for the planet transcend the great masters of the Archivistum. To think knowledge ciphered from before the archives could be used to understand the relics? Many have guessed that fate has some sway over our species. But to find a mathematical proof of predestination..."
"An evidenced theory is not proof." Lain blunted, trying to slow his enthusiasm. "Correlation is not causation, History tells us that it's one of the oldest measurement errors in the sciences..."
"Coincidence the basis of all religions, Elder, And yet, it is intertwined with the school of history, where there are no coincidences. Change one aspect of a society and it will induce system changes to other, interconnected societies, through market functions or through power. Religion is but an extrapolation of social science, faith, an expression of intention. "
"Yes, yes, I know the opening lines of my own thesis!"
"An aspecthas changed, Sir. Extraction rates have gone up. More material has been removed from the Dikteon Vortex than has ever been removed before. EM emissions are up, Graviton emissions are down. And before you tell me there's no cause in that data, Sir, look at the after action reports of the Errantes - the words of the possessed who sought to stop our reclaimers. Just humour me, sir, and look."
After-action report Wrote:[05.04.2021 19:52:19] Saraswati.: Good day.
[05.04.2021 19:52:21] Taurus|Artifice: Oh! Mysterious.
[05.04.2021 19:52:32] Taurus|Artifice: A Denzin of the unknown, perhaps?
[05.04.2021 19:52:35] El_Gordo's cargo is now full.
[05.04.2021 19:52:45] Saraswati.: Merely concerned.
[05.04.2021 19:52:48] Saraswati.: What are we doing here?
[05.04.2021 19:53:02] Taurus|Artifice: Mysterious stranger - I cannot reconcile your IFF with the Empire's database of known and unknown parties.
[05.04.2021 19:53:07] Saraswati.: A lot of artifacts there.
[05.04.2021 19:53:10] Taurus|Artifice: Pray tell me, what is your IFF?
[05.04.2021 19:53:11] Saraswati.: Are we robbing graves now?
[05.04.2021 19:53:29] Taurus|Artifice: Not robbing a grave, for we know not of any dead that was once here.
[05.04.2021 19:53:33] El_Gordo: Graves have gravestones too. Are there here any?
[05.04.2021 19:53:50] Saraswati.: Do you know what the gravestones of those who dwelled here looked like?
[05.04.2021 19:53:53] Taurus|Artifice: We clear the fragments of this great miracle so that they may be seen by those curious to find them.
[05.04.2021 19:54:21] Taurus|Artifice: No; although there are many a rumour. Some say they were the work of great demons who were cast out from Eden before...
[05.04.2021 19:54:24] Taurus|Artifice: man himself was.
[05.04.2021 19:54:58] CONSOLE: Possible cheating detected: Gina.Webb
[05.04.2021 19:55:08] Taurus|Artifice: Others say they are the work of the Nephilim, or the spirits of the dead - the Iwa.
[05.04.2021 19:55:16] El_Gordo's cargo is now full.
[05.04.2021 19:55:40] Taurus|Artifice: But not all Corsairs share the same faiths. Not even all Tauri of the bull believe in exactly the same texts.
[05.04.2021 19:55:51] Taurus|Artifice: We believe spirituality is born out by actions, not by words.
[05.04.2021 19:56:20] Taurus|Artifice: But certainly, this physics-defying bubble within the hydral zone of this massive planetary storm must be the work....
[05.04.2021 19:56:26] Taurus|Artifice: of a higher consciousness, or a higher power.
[05.04.2021 19:56:35] Saraswati.: Such bizarre theories... they built something, it lasted... merely people who came before.
[05.04.2021 19:56:39] Taurus|Artifice: Perhaps a sufficiently advanced alien intelligence is inseperable from a god?
[05.04.2021 19:56:43] Taurus|Artifice: It is hard to say.
[05.04.2021 19:56:54] Saraswati.: Perhaps better people than you.
[05.04.2021 19:56:59] Taurus|Artifice: Be they people or divinities, they live only in legends now.
[05.04.2021 19:57:05] Taurus|Artifice: Oh, certainly better peoples than us.
[05.04.2021 19:57:18] Saraswati.: The people of Malta used to deify their neighbors.
[05.04.2021 19:57:25] Taurus|Artifice: Otherwise we would be creating such wonders, instead of simply exploring the ruins.
[05.04.2021 19:57:27] Taurus|Artifice: Aye.
[05.04.2021 19:57:34] Taurus|Artifice: And that was Malta's original sin.
[05.04.2021 19:57:49] Taurus|Artifice: *with obvious distate* Malta worshipped without thought.
[05.04.2021 19:57:55] Taurus|Artifice: Malta worshipped change.
[05.04.2021 19:58:06] Taurus|Artifice: They changed without understanding what they may become.
[05.04.2021 19:58:20] Taurus|Artifice: It is any wonder that they became slavers?
[05.04.2021 19:58:32] Saraswati.: Men have a habit of deifying what they don't understand.
[05.04.2021 19:58:42] Taurus|Artifice: Aye.
[05.04.2021 19:58:49] Taurus|Artifice: perhaps this ruin is the bones of an ancient god.
[05.04.2021 19:58:59] Taurus|Artifice: And perhaps it is just a relic of a lost alien race.
[05.04.2021 19:59:08] Taurus|Artifice: Either way, it isn't for us to decide.
[05.04.2021 19:59:11] Saraswati.: I'm a rational person, I opt for the latter.
[05.04.2021 19:59:31] Saraswati.: And you are defiling the grave of a dead people.
[05.04.2021 19:59:44] Taurus|Artifice: I am a spiritualist, but I like to believe, if you'll humour me... *the corsair grins* ...that the dead would wish to be useful
[05.04.2021 19:59:57] Taurus|Artifice: Did you know that no part of a dead man on crete is squandered?
[05.04.2021 20:00:22] Taurus|Artifice: His bones are ground into fertilizers, so that he may feed the people, and become one with them again.
[05.04.2021 20:00:42] Taurus|Artifice: His neurons, his cells, are co-opted for use in wetware computers.
[05.04.2021 20:00:57] Saraswati.: These men who came before were not of your world, and might have not demanded the treatment of your countrymen.
[05.04.2021 20:00:59] Taurus|Artifice: His organs which are still functional are transplanted to those in need - such as the sick.
[05.04.2021 20:01:11] Taurus|Artifice: Aye.
[05.04.2021 20:01:20] Taurus|Artifice: But they leave no trace of their customs.
[05.04.2021 20:01:20] El_Gordo: Absolutely discusting and effective.
[05.04.2021 20:01:40] Saraswati.: The customs are not for you to decide, or guess for that matter.
[05.04.2021 20:01:44] Taurus|Artifice: We can only search with faith as to what these creators would have wanted.
[05.04.2021 20:01:52] Taurus|Artifice: Aye, it isn't our place.
[05.04.2021 20:01:57] Taurus|Artifice: You're absolutely correct, brother.
[05.04.2021 20:02:02] Saraswati.: The dead were resting, and they should keep resting.
[05.04.2021 20:02:08] Taurus|Artifice: Therefore we only tend the floating debris
[05.04.2021 20:02:17] Taurus|Artifice: debris which would be lost to the Gas giant forever.
[05.04.2021 20:02:27] Saraswati.: The debris and the dead were at peace, before you came.
[05.04.2021 20:02:29] Taurus|Artifice: The rest of the structure decays at its own pace. Some day, it will re-enter.
[05.04.2021 20:02:35] Taurus|Artifice: But these shards will survive the test of time.
[05.04.2021 20:02:51] El_Gordo: The gravitational pull destroys this place, not us.
[05.04.2021 20:03:48] Taurus|Artifice: Aye.
[05.04.2021 20:04:00] Taurus|Artifice: The wind-sheer tears away these... flakes of the wider structure.
[05.04.2021 20:04:15] Taurus|Artifice: Ripped away, not by the pressure itself, but by the decay of the forces keeping this structure together.
[05.04.2021 20:04:16] El_Gordo: I still wonder how is it float in this altitude
[05.04.2021 20:04:35] Taurus|Artifice: Perhaps a sophisticated anti-gravity device of some kind.
[05.04.2021 20:04:44] Taurus|Artifice: You see, stranger?
[05.04.2021 20:04:50] Taurus|Artifice: Our search is for knowledge.
[05.04.2021 20:04:58] Taurus|Artifice: Yet we Corsairs are not researchers by blood.
[05.04.2021 20:05:22] Taurus|Artifice: It is our way to tend our eviscrations to the Houses.
[05.04.2021 20:05:26] Taurus|Artifice: What they learn, we learn.
[05.04.2021 20:05:41] Taurus|Artifice: Yet many do not learn. They are a greedy people.
[05.04.2021 20:06:05] Taurus|Artifice: Many of these relics will end up squandered in private collections. Privacy. *appauled.* Such a debauched Core world concept.
[05.04.2021 20:06:14] Taurus|Artifice: The idea of owning something ephemeral just for status.
[05.04.2021 20:06:37] Saraswati.: And what would you do with them instead?
[05.04.2021 20:07:03] Taurus|Artifice: Us?
[05.04.2021 20:07:04] Saraswati.: You are Cretans, your sustainment is the sale of the fragments of other peoples.
[05.04.2021 20:07:07] Saraswati.: Yes, you.
[05.04.2021 20:07:14] Taurus|Artifice: Well, you put it exactly.
[05.04.2021 20:07:38] Saraswati.: So, what can happen to these artifacts, if not what you just said? Ending up in a private collection?
[05.04.2021 20:07:40] Taurus|Artifice: We exist on the fragments of the houses, who, like this structure, are falling down the gravity well of their own designs.
[05.04.2021 20:07:47] Taurus|Artifice: Some day, they will be crushed under their own weight.
[05.04.2021 20:07:52] Taurus|Artifice: Much like this structure.
[05.04.2021 20:08:05] Taurus|Artifice: Yet we corsairs, who harvest the fragments of their societies, will survive.
[05.04.2021 20:08:24] Taurus|Artifice: We are hardy, we are individualists. We were not born to the luxuries of a planet with free air and fresh water cycles.
[05.04.2021 20:08:37] Taurus|Artifice: We will live on forever.
[05.04.2021 20:08:56] Taurus|Artifice: Do you see now, Saraswati? It is a beautiful cycle.
[05.04.2021 20:09:15] Saraswati.: For as flowery as you put it, you remain grave robbers.
[05.04.2021 20:09:27] Saraswati.: Profiting from the sale of these remnants to the people you despise.
[05.04.2021 20:09:39] Taurus|Artifice: It is the nature of things.
[05.04.2021 20:09:42] Saraswati.: And then what happens when the buyers disappear, as you put it?
[05.04.2021 20:09:54] Saraswati.: Who will buy all this?
[05.04.2021 20:10:09] Taurus|Gamba: A: Artifice whats your situation?
[05.04.2021 20:10:11] Taurus|Artifice: No-one.
[05.04.2021 20:10:24] Saraswati.: No one.
[05.04.2021 20:10:30] Saraswati.: So, you will fall with the Houses.
[05.04.2021 20:10:33] El_Gordo: We can turn to research instead.
[05.04.2021 20:10:58] Saraswati.: Corsair researchers? *snickers*
[05.04.2021 20:10:58] Taurus|Artifice: The hope is that we can create a system more sustainable than the houses.
[05.04.2021 20:11:31] Saraswati.: The robbers trying to teach sustainability to others. Amazing.
[05.04.2021 20:11:34] Taurus|Artifice: M: We have a strange vessel attempting to threaten us philosophically over the Planet Knossos extraction area.
[05.04.2021 20:11:35] /fi taurus|
[05.04.2021 20:11:46] Taurus|Artifice: I did not say our philosophy was perfect.
[05.04.2021 20:11:49] Taurus|Artifice: It is a growing contract.
[05.04.2021 20:12:14] Taurus|Artifice: M: The vessel is holding position. It is a Jackdaw-class heavy fighter.
[05.04.2021 20:12:18] Tip: Did you end up lost? Can't find your way back? Use the Interactive NavMap on our forums.
[05.04.2021 20:12:23] Saraswati.: I believe you should leave this place.
[05.04.2021 20:12:33] Taurus|Artifice: It appears to be armed with unconventional weaponry.
[05.04.2021 20:12:58] Taurus|Artifice: Matthias: No. This area is the common domain of our people.
[05.04.2021 20:13:04] Taurus|Gamba: A: Unconvetional?
[05.04.2021 20:13:06] Taurus|Artifice: He destroyed the artifacts.
[05.04.2021 20:13:09] Taurus|Artifice: He's definitely hostile.
[05.04.2021 20:13:10] El_Gordo: That was rude.
[05.04.2021 20:13:15] Saraswati.: Not a single star in these voids belongs to you.
[05.04.2021 20:13:20] Taurus|Artifice: Matthias: *appauled* You... destroyed the precious relics?
[05.04.2021 20:13:27] Taurus|Artifice: You are a hypocrite! A profligate!
[05.04.2021 20:13:31] Taurus|Artifice: Who sent you? Malta?
[05.04.2021 20:13:35] Taurus|Artifice: The sprits? Speak!
[05.04.2021 20:13:40] Saraswati.: Far more dignified fate than being in a collection.
[05.04.2021 20:13:57] Taurus|Artifice: You call us scavengers, yet we raid to reclaim, not to destroy.
[05.04.2021 20:14:02] Taurus|Artifice: You destroy with no benefit to yourself.
[05.04.2021 20:14:06] Taurus|Artifice: With no benefit to your people.
[05.04.2021 20:14:16] Taurus|Artifice: *incensed* And you -Dare- talk down on us.
[05.04.2021 20:14:16] Saraswati.: Do you even know who my people are?
[05.04.2021 20:14:40] Taurus|Artifice: I do not know, nor do I care. Your words are mute, Profligate. You would destroy that which you claim to protect.
[05.04.2021 20:15:00] Saraswati.: Destruction to make sure it doesn't fall in your hands is protection.
[05.04.2021 20:15:07] Saraswati.: Fathers forgive me.
[05.04.2021 20:15:22] El_Gordo: It's attack us
[05.04.2021 20:15:25] Taurus|Artifice: As you wish.
[05.04.2021 20:15:26] El_Gordo: Man all turrets
[05.04.2021 20:15:28] Taurus|Artifice: FOR THE CORSAIRS!
Project Notes- Detalles del Proyecto - λεπτομέρειες έργου This file is not for dissemination without the express consent of the Junta de Certidumbre Thira. ...The material remains of the Daam K'vosh empire scatter Hispanic space. They are an inherent component of our history, our culture, our creed. Eighty years before the arrival of the Schiller, esteemed scholars such as Raoul Castanza were already integrating the crumbling alien structures splitting the crust of Crete into our architecture. Famed Austurian cragscreeds were put to silicon memory by poets sheltering from the solar storms amongst the lightning caves of our lowlands. The return of the Schiller only expounded our symbiosis; the demand for alien antiquities within the four founding colonies created ample econocultural avenues for growth throughout the history of the Corsair empire. History in Crete is contextualised by a symbiotic relationship to the relics - from birth to death. The anomalous radiation concentrations in the graveyard of innocents have provided the Corsair people with a means of balancing our fecundity with our means.
Outsiders venture to Gamma, the gateway to the edge systems, hoping to sift the bones of dead titans. They see themselves as Zeus, forging a new world from the corpse of the father, and consequentially search for weapons technology, materials science - predicable tools of practicality and politics that speak to where humanity is now, and not where the Daam K'vosh once were.
Our people combines faith and pragmatism, survival and dependence, expertise and exploitation into one body of experience. The innocents of the Mavalda come home experienced, the harrows of the black stones burned into their corneas. Their sacrifice, in the name of understanding, honour, and survival, carries a paucity of wisdom no classical academic could match.
- Excerpt ...271 - Pravin De Kalhmera - the Minoa Project.
![[Image: Ie9UZSE.jpg?1]](https://i.imgur.com/Ie9UZSE.jpg?1)
![[Image: nByXfWj.jpg?1]](https://i.imgur.com/nByXfWj.jpg?1)